Episto vs Google Workspace
A Google Workspace alternative for when you only need email.
Google Workspace is a full productivity suite with Gmail inside. Episto is email hosting for your own domain. If you pay for Docs, Drive and Meet but mostly use the inbox, here is how they compare.
Episto and Google Workspace at a glance
| Episto | Google Workspace | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Email hosting for your own domain: mailboxes, aliases, catch-all and webmail. | A productivity suite: Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Meet and an admin console. |
| How pricing works | Per plan. Indie includes 3 mailboxes, Studio 10. Extra mailboxes €2.40/month. | Per user, per month. Every person who needs their own inbox is a paid user. |
| Extra addresses | Aliases included: 100 on Indie, 500 on Studio. Catch-all included. | Aliases belong to a paid user; shared addresses usually run through Google Groups. |
| Free option | Free plan with forwarding for one domain. | Free trial; no free plan for custom domains. |
| Data location | European infrastructure. | Google’s global infrastructure. Data region controls depend on the edition. |
| Mail apps | Webmail plus IMAP/SMTP for any mail app. | Gmail web and apps; IMAP available. |
When Google Workspace is the better choice
- Your team works in Google Docs, Sheets and Drive every day and shares files across the company.
- You rely on Google Meet, shared calendars and room booking.
- You need central device management, single sign-on into other apps or Google’s admin and compliance tools.
When Episto is the better choice
- You mainly need email on your domain and use other tools for documents and calls.
- One or two people manage several addresses:
hello@,billing@,support@. With Episto they are aliases, not extra users. - You want your mail stored on European infrastructure.
- You want a price that doesn’t grow with every address you create.
What you keep when you switch
If you use your own domain with Google Workspace, you keep your address. Updating the MX records sends new mail to Episto. An @gmail.com address belongs to Google and cannot move to any other provider.
Switching to Episto
You keep your domain and your addresses. Only the DNS records change.
- Add your domain to Episto and create mailboxes and aliases for every address you use today, so nothing bounces after the switch.
- Keep a copy of your mail. Existing messages stay with your old provider. Export them before you close that account.
- Update your DNS records. Point the MX record to Episto and add the SPF, DKIM and DMARC records. See the setup guides.
- Wait for new mail to arrive at Episto, then cancel the old subscription. Keep it until the DNS change has spread, usually within a few hours.
Information about Google Workspace is a summary of their public plans as of October 2026. Plans and prices change, so check workspace.google.com/pricing before you decide. Episto details are from our pricing page.
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